Plagiarism

The charge of plagiarism, or literary theft, is made against Ellen White in connection with two books—Sketches From the Life of Paul, and The Great Controversy. It is seldom that any other work or passage is cited, although it is insinuated by critics that large portions of all her writings were the product of the minds and pens of others. Is the insinuation justified? This much is certain: If there were works other than the two specified that would help the critic to build up his case, he would not hesitate or fail to use them. Consequently the problem of the accusation of plagiarism may be regarded as limited to these books.APAY 420.1

Did Ellen White borrow from the writings of others in the preparation of these books? Yes, she did. Did this borrowing constitute plagiarism? We think not. Actually, there are two phases to the matter of plagiarism—the moral and the legal. Morally, the major question is: Was there an attempt on the part of the author to deceive her readers into thinking that the material she had borrowed was completely her own? Take Sketches From the Life of Paul, for example.APAY 420.2

The first notice of the publication of Sketches to appear in the Review and Herald was in the issue of October 9, 1883. In the advertisement the publishers called particular attention to the book from which critics say Ellen White copied large portions—Conybeare and Howson’s The Life and Epistles of St. Paul. The publishers of the Review and Herald said: “While the well-known work of Conybeare and Howson completely outstrips all its predecessors as a full and reliable history of the life and epistles of Paul, even that excellent book comes altogether short of taking the place of this humble volume.” To all intents and purposes they were inviting comparison of the two books. But what about Mrs. White? Was she as free as her publishers to direct attention to the Conybeare and Howson book, or did she try to prevent people from reading it so that they might not discover that she had used some material from it?APAY 420.3

Only a few months before the Review and Herald notice of the publication of Mrs. White’s Sketches, there was widespread promotion of the Conybeare and Howson book as a premium with subscriptions to the Review and Herald and the Signs of the Times. Mrs. White did her part in helping the promotion of the book by writing a statement that was included in the The Signs of the Times, February 22, 1883. “The Life of St. Paul by Conybeare and Howson, I regard as a book of great merit, and one of rare usefulness to the earnest student of the New Testament.” Certainly none can say justifiably that Mrs. White tried to hide the fact that she had used some material from the other book on the life of Paul. There was no attempt on her part to deceive her readers.APAY 421.1

What about the legal phase of the matter? Did she use so much that the value of the older book was diminished or that she appropriated the labor of its authors to their injury? F. D. Nichol’s thorough investigation of the extent and nature of the matter used reveals that both of these questions must be answered negatively. What was used was not excessive in amount and was background material related only indirectly to the development of the spiritual theme found in Sketches From the Life of Paul.APAY 421.2

What has been said of Sketches could also be said of The Great Controversy. The books from which historical material was quoted or paraphrased were books that were in many Seventh-day Adventists’ libraries, some of them books Mrs.APAY 421.3

White had highly recommended to be read by the members of the church. Again there was no attempt to deceive. And legally, neither the amount of material nor the use made of it justifies any question. Morally or legally there is no problem of plagiarism. See Ellen G. White and her Critics for a fuller discussion and full documentation.APAY 422.1